Configuring BNU

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This procedure explains how to configure Basic Network Utilities (BNU) for various types of connections, such as direct, modem, and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections.

Prerequisites

BNU must be installed on your system.
You must have root user authority to edit the BNU configuration files.
If you use direct connections for BNU communications, the appropriate connections between your system and the remote systems must be set up.
If you use modems for BNU communications, you must install and configure each modem.
If one or more of your connections uses TCP/IP, then TCP/IP must be running between your system and the appropriate remote systems.
Collect the information that you require to configure BNU (see the following list). This information includes a list of remote systems and lists of devices and modems to use for connecting to the systems.

Gathering required system information

Before you configure BNU, gather the following information:

For each remote system that your system calls, collect the following information:
- The system name
- The login name that your system uses on the remote system
- The password for the login name.
- Login and password prompts on the remote system.
- The type of connection you use to reach the remote system (direct, modem, or TCP/IP)
If the connection is direct, collect the following information:
- The bit rate of the connection
- The port on the local system to which the connection is attached.
If the connection is through a modem (telephone connection), collect the following information:
- The telephone number of the remote system.
- The speed of your modem that is compatible with the speed of the remote system.
Note: If any of the remote systems calls your system, ensure that the BNU administrator on each of the remote systems has all the preceding information about your system.

For each local modem that you use for BNU connections, collect the following information:
- The chat script for the modem (consult the modem documentation).
  Note: For some modems, the chat script is available in the /etc/uucp/Dialers file.
- The local port of the modem.

Creating a list of system devices

Use the information that you collected to make a list of each system device that you need to connect to a remote system. The following is a sample list for the local system morgan:

direct:
hera 9600 tty5
zeus& 2400 tty2
ariadne 2400 tty1
hayes modem (tty3):  apollo, athena
TCP/IP:  merlin, arthur, percy

In the previous example, to connect to system hera, a direct connection at a speed of 9600 from port tty5 is used. To connect to system apollo, the hayes modem, which is connected to port tty3, is used. TCP/IP is used to connect to systems merlin, arthur, and percy.

Configuring remote communication facilities

For BNU to function correctly at your site, you must configure the remote communication facilities as follows:

List the devices that are used to establish a direct, telephone, or modem communications link.
List the modems that are used to contact remote systems over the telephone network.
List the accessible remote systems.
List the abbreviations by representing the prefixes of telephone numbers that are used to contact the specified remote systems (optional).
Set access permissions by specifying the ways in which local and remote systems communicate.
Schedule monitoring for the networked remote systems (optional).

To create these lists, permissions, and schedules, complete the following steps:

Change the BNU configuration files.
Edit the /var/spool/cron/crontabs/uucp file to remove the comment characters (#) from the beginning of the lines that schedule the automatic maintenance routines.

Note: You must configure the Systems, Devices, and Permissions files to ensure that BNU runs correctly at your site. However, it is not necessary to change the BNU configuration files in any particular order.

After you complete the preceding procedures, you can configure BNU on your system.

Configuring BNU on your system

To configure BNU, complete the following steps:

Ensure that BNU is installed on your system by running the following command:
```
lslpp -h bos.net.uucp
```
If BNU is installed, bos.net.uucp is displayed in the output. If you do not see it, install BNU from the installation tape.
Set appropriate login IDs and passwords for the remote systems that call your system, and provide the person responsible for administering BNU or the UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program (UUCP) on each remote system with the login and password.
This step is completed by editing the /etc/passwd, /etc/group, /etc/security/login.cfg, and /etc/security/passwd files.
Attention: If you allow the remote systems to log in to the local system with the UUCP login ID, the security of your system is at risk. Remote systems that are logged in with the UUCP ID can display and possibly change the local Systems and Permissions files. These actions of the remote system depend on the permissions that are specified in the LOGNAME entry of the Permissions file. It is recommended that you create other BNU login IDs for remote systems and reserve the UUCP login ID for the person administering BNU on the local system. For the best security, each remote system that contacts the local system must have a unique login ID with a unique user ID (UID) number. These login IDs must have group IDs (GIDs) of 5. By default, the operating system includes the NUUCP login ID for transferring files.
1. If you need to maintain complete control over the access of each individual system, you must create separate login IDs and combine the MACHINE and LOGNAME entries in the Permissions file. You have the option of maintaining separate logins, or having one login for all BNU connections. A few example /etc/passwd entries follow:
```
Umicrtk:!:105:5:micrtk uucp:/usr/spool/uucppublic:/usr/sbin/uucp/uucico
Ufloydl:!:106:5:floydl uucp:/usr/spool/uucppublic:/usr/sbin/uucp/uucico
Uicus:!:107:5:icus uucp:/usr/spool/uucppublic:/usr/sbin/uucp/uucico
Urisctkr:!:108:5::/usr/spool/uucppublic:/usr/sbin/uucp/uucico
```
2. If you want to have one set of permissions and do not want to maintain separate control of any of the UUCP connections, you can have a single login for all the systems. An example entry for such a scenario follows:
```
nuucp:!:6:5::/usr/spool/uucppublic:/usr/sbin/uucp/uucico
```
  Note:
  - The UID, which is the third colon-separated field, must be unique to avoid any security risk.
  - The GID, which is the fourth colon-separated field, must be 5 to ensure that it is in the same group as UUCP.
  - The home directory, which is the sixth colon-separated field, can be changed to any valid directory.
  - The login shell, which is the seventh colon-separated field, must always be /usr/sbin/uucp/uucico.
3. Ensure that the /etc/group file contains the new users. An example of such an entry follows:
```
uucp:!:5:uucp,uucpadm,nuucp,Umicrtk,Uicus,Urisctakr
```
4. Add any users to the UUCP group, who use modems to connect with programs other than the cu command.
5. After you edit these files as root, set a password for the new users with the command passwd UserName.
  Note: If you change a password from the root login, the flags entry in the stanza for the user in the /etc/security/passwd file contains the following line:
  flags = ADMCHG
  You must change the preceding line, as shown in the following example:
  flags =
  Otherwise, when the remote uucico process logs in to your system, the system prompts it to enter a new password. This action is not possible and hence the login fails.
6. To avoid interruptions in the login process that are caused by the uucico process, which might be started by the default herald with all of its Ctrl-J's, comment the default stanza (with asterisks) and define a stanza for your tty, as shown in the following example:
```
 /dev/tty0:
             herald = "\nrisc001 login:"
```
7. Use an ASCII text editor or the uucpadm command to edit the Poll file. Add an entry for each system that your system polls.
  Note: The systems that are listed in the Poll file must also be listed in the /etc/uucp/Systems file.
8. Use an ASCII text editor to edit the /var/spool/cron/crontabs/uucp file. Remove the comment characters (#) from the lines that run the uudemon.hour and uudemon.poll commands.
  You can change the number of times these commands are run. However, be sure to schedule the uudemon.poll command approximately 5 minutes before you schedule the uudemon.hour command.
9. Ensure that your changes took effect by running the following command:
```
crontab -l uucp
```
10. Set up the following BNU data files: Systems, Permissions, Devices, Dialers, and Sysfiles.
  You might use the /usr/sbin/uucp/uucpadm command to initially set up the files and then edit them to suit your needs. Use the Sysfiles file to specify files other than /etc/uucp/Systems, /etc/uucp/Devices, and /etc/uucp/Dialers for BNU configuration. For more information, see Sysfiles.
If you decide to use dial-code abbreviations for telephone numbers in the Systems files, set up the Dialcodes entry for each abbreviation. For details, see Dialcodes File Format for BNU.
If you use TCP/IP for your BNU connections, use the netstat command to see whether the uucpd daemon is working, by entering the following command:
```
netstat -a
```
The uucpd daemon is started by the inetd daemon. If the uucpd daemon does not run, reconfigure the inetd daemon to start the uucpd daemon. For more information, see Configuring the inetd daemon).
Use the list of devices that you collected, before you begin this procedure, to change the Devices file on your system. Make an entry for each modem and each direct connection. If you use TCP/IP, uncomment the TCP/IP entry in the Devices file.
You can configure the /etc/uucp/Sysfiles file to specify other files to be used for configuration of devices. For details about the Devices file, see the Devices File Format for BNU.
Also, if you use TCP/IP, verify that the /etc/services file includes the following line:
```
uucp        540/tcp          uucpd
```
If not, add this line to the file.
Use the information about each remote system that you collected, before you begin this procedure, to change the Systems file on your system. Use the commented examples in the Systems file as a guide when you specify your configuration. If you use TCP/IP, ensure that the host name table in the /etc/hosts file includes the name of the remote computer with which you want to connect. You can configure the /etc/uucp/Sysfiles file to specify other files to be used for configuration of systems.
Use the information about devices and modems that you collected, before you begin this procedure, to ensure that the Dialers file on your system contains an entry for each modem. If you use TCP/IP and direct connections, ensure that the TCP/IP entry and direct entries are present in the file. You can configure the /etc/uucp/Sysfiles file to specify other files to be used for configuration of dialers.
Decide how much access to your system you want to provide to each remote system that you call and to each remote system that calls you. Set up appropriate entries for each system and each login name in the Permissions file.
Use the uucheck command to verify that the directories, programs, and support files are set up properly:
```
/usr/sbin/uucp/uucheck -v
```
The uucheck command verifies that the directories, programs, and support files are set up properly and that the Permissions file entries are consistent. If the uucheck command reports any errors, fix the errors.
Optional: Set up automatic monitoring of BNU operations and automatic polling of remote systems. For more information, see Setting up automatic monitoring of BNU and Setting up BNU polling of remote systems).